In preparing a meal, a person is often called on to both heat and strain food items. For example, when preparing a pasta dish, the chef cooks the pasta noodles in boiling water and then strains the water from the pot. Another example is the preparation of ground beef: while browning the ground beef, liquid fat is produced which must be strained from the pot before the beef can be served.
Presently, the chef heats the food items with one kitchen utensil and then strains them with another. For instance, a cook will boil water and pasta noodles together in a large pot. When the pasta noodles have been fully cooked, the cook will then pour the pasta noodles and the boiling water from the large pot into a strainer, thereby straining the water from the cooked noodles.
This common process has many drawbacks, the most obvious being that it requires the cook to handle two awkward kitchen utensils at one time. Successfully performing the task requires both strength and dexterity. When one considers the fact that one of these utensils is also extremely hot, one realizes that this process is also dangerous.